又中又英 | Diamonds State Park | 褚簡寧
America's state parks are full of natural beauty. I visited some when I lived in the US. But I had never heard of Crater of Diamonds State Park in the US state of Arkansas until I read recent media reports. It costs US$15 to enter the park for a day. What makes this park so unusual is that visitors can dig for real diamonds there. The park has a “finders, keepers” policy, which means visitors can keep what they find. There is a pool to rinse mud and rocks in a visitor’s bucket to see if there are any diamonds. The park has a Diamond Discovery Center where gemologists tell visitors if they have found real diamonds. A gemologist is an expert in gems.
Recent media reports said Micherre Fox, a young woman from New York City, had found a 2.30-carat white diamond. It was a diamond in the rough. The expression “diamond in the rough” is mostly used to describe a talented or skillful person of good character who lacks manners or education. The expression can also be used to describe an uncut diamond in its original form. Fox had decided two years ago to find her own diamond for her engagement ring. Her boyfriend agreed to wait.
She spent three weeks last month looking for a diamond and found one on her last day there. Gemologists said the diamond could be worth up to US$50,000. A farmer found the first diamonds at the park in 1906. Since then, visitors have found over 75,000 diamonds. A French tourist found a 7.46-carat diamond last year. The largest diamond ever found in the US was at the park in 1924. It weighed 40.23 carats.
美國的州立公園滿是大自然之美。我住在美國的時候，亦有遊訪其中一些公園，但我就從未聽說過美國阿肯色州的鑽石坑州立公園，直至最近讀到有傳媒報道。公園入場費為15美元一天。這個公園的非凡之處，在於訪客可以在這兒挖掘真正的鑽石。這個公園有一個「finders, keepers」措施，意思是訪客撿到甚麼都可以據為己有。那兒有一個小水池，用來清洗訪客桶內的泥沙碎石，以看看是否有鑽石在內。公園有一個鑽石探索中心，由gemologists告訴訪客他們是否找到了真正的鑽石。Gemologist就是寶石專家。
最近有傳媒報道指，一個來自紐約市的年輕女子米雪兒．霍士，找到一個2.3卡白鑽石。那是a diamond in the rough。習語diamond in the rough大多是用來形容一個有才華或技藝高而且品格良好的人，只是舉止粗鄙或缺乏教養而有待磨練；這個習語也可以用來形容一顆未經琢磨的原型鑽石。霍士兩年前決定自行挖掘鑽石，用來製作訂婚戒指，她的男友亦願意等待。
上個月，她花了三星期去尋找鑽石，在最後一天終於找到了一顆。寶石專家（gemologists）說那顆鑽石價值可高達5萬美元。一個農夫在1906年於公園內找到首批鑽石，自此訪客已尋到超過75000顆鑽石。上年，一個法國遊客就找到了一顆7.46卡的鑽石。美國本土曾經發現的最大顆鑽石是1924年在那公園找到的，重40.23卡。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
